Editor's Creed

As an editor, it is never our intention to shoot down your dreams. It is our intention to offer the tools you need and guide you to your goal--Publication.

It is not our intention to be cold and critical but to teach and inform, to show you how to better your stories, perfect your words. Make your projects shine.

I believe I can speak for any of The Wild Rose Press editors and say that our least favorite thing in the world is to write a rejection to an aspiring writer. However, it does offer us the chance to aid you in your pursuit to contract your work with us or another publisher if you choose to heed the explanation so carefully woven into your repectfully written letter detailing "why" your story or book was rejected.

Rejection is never comfortable, but taken constructively only helps to make you a much stronger, more vivid writer. Pay attention to every detail, every explanation your editor gives you. She is trying to mold you into a publishable author. One who stands out. One who doesn't land in the proverbial slush pile after the first paragraph.

I've listed some hints we drop so often I know you are more than sick of hearing them, but we continuously see these problems with submissions:

• First and formost, please follow guideline requests. That is why we put them up. Time after time we receive submissions that are not formatted properly. We are not interested in your fancy fonts and a pretty manuscript. All that does is make it more difficult when it comes time to format for galley. Always use .rtf formatting. Nothing else--ever!



• More on guidelines. Pay attention to individual line content needs. For instance: you are submitting to Black Rose. Did you read the guidelines carefully? If so, why am I receiving a story about Faeries and time travel when my line handles vampire, wereshifters, demons, and all the darker less whimsical creatures of the paranormal genre? If your stories have witches/warlocks/gargoyles, whatever--be sure the story elements are dark and include one of the above mentioned entities, otherwise it is more likely a Faery fit. Study the needs of each line thoroughly BEFORE you submit. If in doubt at any time, we are always happy to guide you.



• Proofread, proofread, proofread... We can't stress this enough. When a manuscript comes in that is filled with typos, spelling errors, wrong words and clearly not proof read, YOU WILL BE REJECTED. This is just plain lazy. NEVER allow your work to go out the door without a thorough going over. Always have two or more people proof you work. As editors, we have to have a cold read(copyedit) done(someone to go over a manuscript to be sure WE didn't miss something!) So rest assured YOU need to do this as well. Don't skip important steps. Critique partners are excellent for this. They will also be able to pick up plot problems, redundancy, inconsistencies, etc. All of which WILL get you a rejection or a revision request at the very least. TWRP does offer a critique group. I've encoded the link for you to follow, why not check it out?



• A word about copyrights, brand names and trademarks. Be aware when mentioning products, music, people(actors, authors, singers etc.) there are issues that may arise including copyright and trademark infringements. It is best NOT to go there at all. As editors, we flag these and WILL insist that you change such items.

The above are a few things that are constant headaches for us as editors. I want to mention another thing I have recently come across in closing. Please beware of the thin line between a story idea and plagerism!

I recently had a submission that was titled similar to a blockbuster series and even took place in the same locale! This is a definite no, no. You can not write a spinoff of another author's works nor use their story ideas in any fashion that is close to the original.

Something else you must be diligent about is not referencing characters from other works in your stories. Seems innocent enough especially in a postive light but not a good idea. The best way to handle any potential problems of this sort is to NOT do it at all. I can't stress this enough.

I would now like to share with you, the author, our MISSION STATEMENT as editors:

To endeavor to make your writing the very best it can be, whether we enter into contract or not. Know that we are only trying to help you. Never to discourage only encourage and teach. Polish your story and make your writing shine!

Thank you.

Callie Lynn Wolfe, SE Black Rose

Rejection: Knowledge is Power

I have heard it said often that small presses—Ebook, royalty-paying publishers, in particular—will publish anything that comes across the transom. The proof for this is in the pudding (so the elusive “they” will say): Sub-par releases, under-average cover art, poor editing. These are the gripes. Because of this, I decided to analyze seriously our own submissions and titles to see if this viewpoint held water, or was all wet (Oh, and BTW, clichés and IM abbrev’s are OK in a blog entry—but not in a manuscript unless your character is going electronic ). Here’s what I found: Several of our titles have received glowing reviews—and not just from “Miss Jane Doe’s Blog that nobody ever heard of,” but, awards such as four stars from Romantic Times Magazine, reader’s and/or editors’ choice awards, and the like. Our covers have won The New Covey Award, the Dirk A. Wolf, and others. Our books have won Eppies, and other well-recognized contests—and our rejection rate on submissions exceeds fifty-two percent across the entire company. If the proof is in the pudding, The Wild Rose Press is stirring up some pretty rich chocolate—lots of cacao and not much artificial flavour.

But, you may say, “That sounds very sweet; how about giving us some meat and potatoes data.” OK. Generalities won’t cut it. Here are the bare-bones numbers on my own stats: Sixty percent rejection to forty percent acceptance. However, of the forty percent I do contract, more than half of those (fifty-four percent) are from authors who have published with us before (sometimes with another line; most often, someone I’ve personally contracted). So what does that mean? It means, if you’re a new author querying me for the first time, you only have an eighteen percent chance of me offering you a contract. To illustrate, it means that for every one hundred manuscripts I see, sixty get rejected and forty get contracted—but of the forty which get contracted, twenty-two are return authors, and only eighteen are new to TWRP. Eighteen out of one hundred. Does that sound discouraging? Don’t let it be. Just think of it this way: Every one of the twenty-two I contract as return authors, were once first-time authors. What this information should tell you is this: I don’t contract everything that comes across my desk, so if you’re serious about your career opportunities with The Wild Rose Press, send me your best work, not that first draft you wrote fifteen years ago and haven’t looked at since.

I take my job as an editor very seriously. It’s my reputation on the line, as well as the company’s and yours as the author. I don’t want to disappoint readers. I want them to pick up your book and be awed, moved to laughter or tears—or both in the span of a few chapters. I want them to talk to their friends—not about how poor TWRP books are, but how they’ve found a keeper, a must-read—how they can’t wait for the sequel or the next new release from Author A at TWRP. That’s what’s best for you—and me. What this should also tell you is, when you get that contract offer, don’t write it off as something trivial—and don’t let your friends, either. TWRP may be a small press, but I certainly don’t offer contracts to everyone.

I’m sure you’ve heard the rejection rate at larger houses is much higher than what I’ve described here. That’s because they see more manuscripts, yet unfortunately, that doesn’t mean more good submissions. I can understand their dilemma. I’ve been with TWRP for quite some time now, and I’ve seen the tide of submissions ebb and flow. It would be nice if the more submissions we saw, the more contracts we issued, but that’s just not the case. It’s usually the other way round: The more submissions, the higher the rejection rate. This is a sad reality.

But, that brings me to a very important point, which I know I’ve made before: if I reject your manuscript, but give you an offer to resubmit, I’m not trying to be nice. Just like you, I lead a busy life, and I don’t want to see a manuscript multiple times if I know it is too far away from publication quality. I only offer to look at a manuscript an additional time if I see some promise in it. So, please, take me up on my offer. Incorporate my suggestions. Resubmit. As I write this, I can think of several manuscripts I’ve contracted which were initially rejected, but came back to me well edited and polished to contract quality. I love it when that happens!

Rhonda recently put out a note asking for more submissions. We are always looking for great stories. In White Rose, I’d like to see some Miniature length and Rosebud length really great inspirational stories—stories in which Christian people struggle with their faith, but still rely on God. Emotionally driven stories with a strong romance and a strong Christian principle. These stories can be contemporary or historical.

In English Tea, I’d like to see any-length traditional regencies, and stories with a gothic flavour. I’d also like to see medievals which feature feisty heroines and courageous knight-types where chivalry is celebrated and women can be strong but still feminine.

Our rejection rate may seem discouraging, but don’t let it be. I’m shooting for a hundred percent contract rate, so send me a terrific read. If you do, I’ll send you a contract, and together, we'll grow.

Blessings,
Nicola Martinez, Senior Editor
White Rose & English Tea Rose

Dear Editor: When Should I Give Up?

You've just opened your tenth rejection letter for your from-the-heart-and-soul novel. You've even written a short story that you sent out, but haven't heard back about yet.

Some of the rejections say, "Thanks but no thanks." Others have a note or two about craft improvements you can make. But learning what passive voice is and not writing that way--or fixing it where it lies, like stagnant water, in your 100K book--is anther story. You even got a critique group and four people told you six different ways how not to do what they say you're doing wrong and you have no idea what they're talking about.

Should you give up? Decide that your writing is crap, will always be crap, and no one will like it, you can't change how you write, and that's it? Time to go back to the day job and just exist?

NO!

Don't do that to your dreams.

Never give up. You can learn new tricks. Study books on grammar and style. Study books on craft. Buy used copies of your favorite novels and highlight the heck out of that author's crafty bits. Analyze. Imitate until the methods sink in.

And above all, keep writing. Practice, practice, practice.

Have you ever looked at a portrait drawn by an amateur or self-taught artist, and thought, "Wow, that's really good. I can ignore the fact that the facial proportions don't look right because I can't even do that good. Stick figures, baby." Compare that drawing with a professional portraitist's art, someone who has studied line, color, shading, proportion, and has specific tools for different jobs. Worlds of difference in quality, eh?

Writing is a passion and an art. Craft tools and proper structure will allow your passion to shine, just as that professional artist's work is worlds above the amateur's. Perhaps that amateur portraitist draws as a hobby and is content with art for fun and stress relief. That's wonderful.

Is your writing a hobby? Then where did those rejection letters come from?

That's what I thought. Now put on your big girl panties and study.
_____
Kelly Schaub is an editor in the Faery Rose Line. She is also author Kelly McCrady. Check out her new book, "Martial Hearts," on sale at The Wild Rose Press tomorrow, October 15!